French Phrase
Je tire sur la corde ?
Meaning
Literally, ‘Am I pulling on the rope?’ It is used to confirm whether the speaker is currently applying force to a rope, often in a cooperative or instructional context.
When to use
Use this question when you want to check if you should keep pulling, when you’re unsure whether you’re the one doing the pulling, or when you need confirmation from a teammate in a tug‑of‑war or when operating a winch.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Jetiresurlacorde?
Subject pronoun (Je)
The first‑person singular pronoun used before a verb in the present tense.
Present tense of tirer
‘tire’ is the 1st person singular present indicative of the verb ‘tirer’ (to pull).
Preposition ‘sur’
‘sur’ means ‘on’ or ‘onto’; with ‘tirer’ it forms the idiom ‘tirer sur’ meaning ‘to pull on’.
Definite article + noun (la corde)
‘la’ marks the feminine singular noun ‘corde’ (rope).
Question intonation
In spoken French, a rising intonation or the addition of ‘est‑ce que’ turns the statement into a question.
🗨In Conversation
Je tire sur la corde ?
Am I pulling on the rope?
Oui, continue, on a besoin de plus de force.
Yes, keep going, we need more force.
✕Common Mistakes
Je tirer la corde ?
While grammatically correct, using ‘tirer la corde’ without ‘sur’ changes the nuance; it sounds like you’re asking if you should pull the rope *as a whole* rather than confirming the ongoing action.
Je tire sur le corde ?
‘Corde’ is feminine, so the article must be ‘la’, not ‘le’.
Je tire sur la cordes ?
‘Corde’ is singular; the plural form would be ‘cordes’ and would need a different article.
↔Alternatives
Est‑ce que je tire la corde ?
Do I pull the rope?
Je suis en train de tirer la corde, c’est bien ?
I’m pulling the rope, is that right?
Dois‑je tirer sur la corde ?
Should I pull on the rope?
Cultural Tip
In everyday French, the simpler ‘tirer la corde’ is more common than ‘tirer sur la corde’, which can sound a bit technical or emphasize the action of pulling *on* something that is already attached. When asking a question, French speakers often use ‘Est‑ce que…’ or simply raise their intonation rather than adding a question mark after a statement.